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Published on: September 19, 2019
Parental authority, nurturance, and two-dimensional self-esteem
Romin W Tafarodi1, Nicole Wild, Caroline Ho
1Department of Psychology, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. tafarodi@psych.utoronto.ca
Scandinavian Journal of Psychology
|February 6, 2010
Summary
Parental authoritativeness and nurturance positively impact child self-esteem (self-liking and self-competence). Authoritarian parenting also showed a surprising link to self-liking, though this may be due to measurement artifacts.
Area of Science:
- Psychology
- Developmental Psychology
- Family Studies
Background:
- Parenting styles significantly influence child psychological development.
- Self-esteem, encompassing self-liking and self-competence, is a crucial aspect of adolescent well-being.
- Understanding the specific parental behaviors linked to self-esteem is vital for intervention and support.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the relationship between various parental styles (permissiveness, authoritativeness, authoritarianism, nurturance) and adolescent self-esteem.
- To differentiate the impact of maternal and paternal behaviors on two dimensions of self-esteem: self-liking and self-competence.
- To clarify the mediating role of nurturance within authoritative parenting concerning self-esteem.
Main Methods:
- Cross-sectional study involving 207 two-parent families.
- Independent reports collected from university students and both parents on parenting styles and self-esteem.
- Covariance structure analysis employed to control for reporter bias and unreliability.
Main Results:
- Maternal and paternal authoritativeness and nurturance demonstrated strong, consistent positive associations with both self-liking and self-competence.
- Parental authoritativeness's positive effect on self-esteem appears primarily mediated by the nurturance component.
- Unexpectedly, parental authoritarianism also showed a positive correlation with self-liking, potentially due to methodological factors.
Conclusions:
- Authoritative and nurturing parenting are key contributors to higher adolescent self-esteem.
- The supportive and caring aspect of authoritative parenting is central to its positive impact on self-esteem.
- Further research is needed to understand the complex and potentially artifactual relationship between authoritarian parenting and self-liking.
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